Furry Orca
Active Member
Hello All,
I am strongly considering replacing my PRV myself. The estimates I have received thus far to replace it run north of $400 which I think is high all things considered. However, that being said, it's not going to be an easy swap out. When they installed the plumbing for our home that was built in 2001-2002, my locale had just made it code that a PRV must be installed on all new residential construction. As such, this was relatively new for residential new construction plumbers, so it appears they tried to fit the new PRV code into their existing piping arrangement and in doing so, gave no forethought on its replacement after the fact.
Here's what I mean. Here's a pic of the arrangement. This arrangement is fine if not for the PRV and I have to believe it's the arrangement they were using before installing a PRV became code. Problem is, it's not an effective arrangement for replacing a PRV.
The space between the inner part of the pipes flanking the middle pipe where the PRV resides is approximately 5 inches. The PRV top to bottom is 5.75 inches. Therefore, you cannot twist the old PRV off because the outer flanking parallel pipes will impede it. Sans dismantling the PRV unit in place to be able to decrease the height of it to twist it off, which is nuts, the only way I see to get it off is to cut the piping on either side of it.
The current PRV is a Watts. It's 18-years-old and probably started failing around 6 years prior. That is when we started experiencing odd sounds in our pipes and the water pressure started acting wonky. I didn't know anything about PRVs at the time so I had no idea and didn't think much of it. Since that time, some valves have started failing in the house. For example, the shower valves that were guaranteed to last a lifetime all failed at the same time and come to find out, we have had a slow leak in the washing machine intake water valves for a couple of years. I bought a Watts water pressure gauge to measure the water pressure and the water pressure is elevated. It holds steady without any draw on it at between 73 psi and 79 psi with occasional spikes to nearly 90 psi. When there is draw, the pressure drops dramatically to as low as 32 psi. Obviously, the regulator is no longer regulating and I now understand why PRVs were codified.
Here's my plan sans paying a plumber nearly $500 for what for them is a relatively easy project that would only take approximately an hour for them to complete given their skill level. I don't want to solder, so I plan on using shark bites. My plan is to cut the pipe on either side of the old PRV to remove it. I will clean up the end of the cut pipes and install the new PRV with the shark bite adaptors already fastened to it. Here's a pic of the assembled unit ready to be placed.
Here's the conundrum. Because of this piping complex surrounding the PRV, there isn't flexible play in the piping. Therefore, in order to achieve more flexibility, I need to also cut the flanking pipes and adjoin them with shark bites. By freeing up all three pipes in unision, it will allow me to maneuver the piping into the shark bite fitting once the other end is attached.
Watch this video for illustrative purposes. Forward to 7:57. See how he maneuvers the pipe to get it to fit onto the shark bite. I need to create enough flexivility to be able to do that too. Hence me having to cut three pipes and use three different sets of shark bites as a result.
What do you think? Is this a sound strategy? Remember, I do not want to solder under any conditions.
Thanks,
Furry Orca
I am strongly considering replacing my PRV myself. The estimates I have received thus far to replace it run north of $400 which I think is high all things considered. However, that being said, it's not going to be an easy swap out. When they installed the plumbing for our home that was built in 2001-2002, my locale had just made it code that a PRV must be installed on all new residential construction. As such, this was relatively new for residential new construction plumbers, so it appears they tried to fit the new PRV code into their existing piping arrangement and in doing so, gave no forethought on its replacement after the fact.
Here's what I mean. Here's a pic of the arrangement. This arrangement is fine if not for the PRV and I have to believe it's the arrangement they were using before installing a PRV became code. Problem is, it's not an effective arrangement for replacing a PRV.
The space between the inner part of the pipes flanking the middle pipe where the PRV resides is approximately 5 inches. The PRV top to bottom is 5.75 inches. Therefore, you cannot twist the old PRV off because the outer flanking parallel pipes will impede it. Sans dismantling the PRV unit in place to be able to decrease the height of it to twist it off, which is nuts, the only way I see to get it off is to cut the piping on either side of it.
The current PRV is a Watts. It's 18-years-old and probably started failing around 6 years prior. That is when we started experiencing odd sounds in our pipes and the water pressure started acting wonky. I didn't know anything about PRVs at the time so I had no idea and didn't think much of it. Since that time, some valves have started failing in the house. For example, the shower valves that were guaranteed to last a lifetime all failed at the same time and come to find out, we have had a slow leak in the washing machine intake water valves for a couple of years. I bought a Watts water pressure gauge to measure the water pressure and the water pressure is elevated. It holds steady without any draw on it at between 73 psi and 79 psi with occasional spikes to nearly 90 psi. When there is draw, the pressure drops dramatically to as low as 32 psi. Obviously, the regulator is no longer regulating and I now understand why PRVs were codified.
Here's my plan sans paying a plumber nearly $500 for what for them is a relatively easy project that would only take approximately an hour for them to complete given their skill level. I don't want to solder, so I plan on using shark bites. My plan is to cut the pipe on either side of the old PRV to remove it. I will clean up the end of the cut pipes and install the new PRV with the shark bite adaptors already fastened to it. Here's a pic of the assembled unit ready to be placed.
Here's the conundrum. Because of this piping complex surrounding the PRV, there isn't flexible play in the piping. Therefore, in order to achieve more flexibility, I need to also cut the flanking pipes and adjoin them with shark bites. By freeing up all three pipes in unision, it will allow me to maneuver the piping into the shark bite fitting once the other end is attached.
Watch this video for illustrative purposes. Forward to 7:57. See how he maneuvers the pipe to get it to fit onto the shark bite. I need to create enough flexivility to be able to do that too. Hence me having to cut three pipes and use three different sets of shark bites as a result.
What do you think? Is this a sound strategy? Remember, I do not want to solder under any conditions.
Thanks,
Furry Orca